IJN
Transport
Sunk
June 12, 1944
George
Pierce, Jr 1951
Dan King, 1992
Wartime History
Set sail as part of a convoy on June 11th from Tanapag
Harbor on Saipan bound
for Japan. US Navy aircraft from US Navy Task
Force 58 including planes from 15 aircraft carriers attacked this
convoy. The Hinko Maru was severely
damaged by a torpedo, and intentionally beached
at Chi
Chi Jima. Later, the wreck was consistently strafed by American
pilots returning from missions to Japan.
Roy Wiggs recalls:
"The ship is the Hinko-Maru, it was attacked by American forces June 12,1944
while enroute to re-supply Saipan.
It was run aground at Chi Chi and was strafed repeatedly by P-51s returning from
escort duty on their way back to Iwo. The remnants of the hull are still visible
but just barely."
Bill Marks recalls from 1952:
"Our ship USS Toleda visited the Bonin Islands. About 10 of us
went on a swimming party just to get off the ship for a while. There was a ship
with a large hole in the side about 500 hundred feet from the beach [Hinko Maru].
I attempted to swim out to the ship, but turned back because of sharks.
Frank Mulhall recalls:
"The Hinko Maru was aground when we were there and the later pictures show
her out in the harbor. I had researched that and found out a typhoon in the 1960's
slipped her off shore and she came to rest where the picture you have shows .
She turned almost 180 degrees and the stern began settling into the sea."
George Pierce, Jr visited the in 1951 and recalls:
"She had a great hole in the port side just forward of the beam. One
of the natives told us that one night they bombed the harbor while
there
were no ships there, all their bombs falling seemingly harmlessly in
the
water. The Japanese laughed at the silly Americans for doing this.
Actually those bombs were aerial mines, and when the Jap fleet later
entered the harbor several of them struck mines and were sunk."
